A Russian court on Tuesday fined a coronavirus-denying monk who has challenged Kremlin lockdown orders for spreading false information about the pandemic. The court in the Ural Mountains region ordered Father Sergiy to pay 90,000 rubles ($1,250). The 65-year-old monk, who has attracted nationwide attention by urging followers to disobey church leadership and ignore church Read more
For decades their story has been told by others. Now the people of Parihaka have the opportunity to make sure they are the ones telling it. In June the Parihaka Papakāinga Trust was granted $14 million from the Provincial Growth Fund. It will be used to build a visitor centre and other infrastructure to cope Read more
Hong Kong’s Facebook and WhatsApp laws have drawn criticism from around the world. Several countries, including the UK, have criticised China for imposing new security laws, which they say threaten the territory’s long-standing autonomy. Facebook said it would stop considering the requests, “pending further assessment” of the human rights issues. No personal information about users Read more
Retired Pope Benedict XVI followed the funeral of his brother, Georg Ratzinger, via livestreaming, reported the German Catholic news agency KNA. Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg said Pope Benedict, 93, was connected to the Mass taking place for his older brother July 8 in the Regensburg Cathedral. Msgr. Georg Ratzinger died on July 1 at Read more
Prince Charles has praised the “wonderful work” of religious communities during the coronavirus pandemic. The 71-year-old royal has been “so deeply struck” by the way people have demonstrated “fundamental human compassion and decency” and set differences aside to provide “vital” support to local communities. He said at a virtual multifaith conference hosted by the Commonwealth Read more
A Catholic secondary school principal is among community leaders who have signed up to a new alliance of people who will work to oppose any attempt to legalise cannabis in New Zealand. Patrick Walsh, principal of John Paul College in Rotorua, is among those in Smart Approaches to Marijuana NZ (SAM-NZ), the formation of which Read more
In the third such incident in India in 10 days, a Catholic priest was found dead in his residence in Tuticorin Diocese in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state. Father Xavier Alwin, 36, was found in his room within the premises of a diocesan-run school in Thoothukudi district on July 1. He was a teacher at Read more
Almost half of the women imprisoned in New Zealand have not been convicted of the crime that is keeping them behind bars. A sweeping 2013 law change designed to create greater bail hurdles for violent offenders has had an outsize effect on women, and Māori women in particular. Continue reading
The Sagrada Familia which was designed by Antoni Gaudí, will reopen its doors July 4 following a more than 100-day closure due to the coronavirus crisis. The unfinished basilica, which was forced to close to tourists March 13, will offer free entry to medical workers and their families Saturday in the first phase of its Read more
Catholic voters in the United States would narrowly prefer former Vice President Joe Biden over President Donald Trump, the Pew Research Center reported on July 1. When asked who they would vote for or who they are leaning toward if the election were held today, 52 percent of Catholics picked Mr. Biden and 47 percent Read more